Up to 74 million Americans access to health care that hung in the balance on Tuesday, because officials reported disturbances for their Medicaid programs in all 50 states.
The chaos came after the abrupt financing of the Trump administration, which seems to have hit organizations and agencies that depend on funds from the federal health department.
These include State Medicaid programs that have not been able to log in to the web portal of Payment Management Services (PMS), operated by the Department of Health and Human Services, which manages billions of dollars annually.
The White House has said that it is 'aware of the Medicaid website portal failure' but insisted that no payments had been made and instead were simply delayed in processed.
But state and federal officials say that people have already been affected.
Connecticut Sen Chris Murphy meanwhile said that the medicaid payment system of his state is eliminated. '
“Doctors and hospitals cannot be paid,” he said. “Discussions about whether services can continue.”
Sen Ron Wyden, a Democrat in Oregon, said on Tuesday that his staff 'reports have confirmed that Medicaid portals are in all 50 states under the freezing and call it a flagging attempt to remove and remove the health insurance from millions of Americans at night and People will be killed at night. '
When they put pressure on whether medicaid financing was influenced by a federal freezing, said press secretary Karoline Leavitt of the White House: “I will come back and contact you”
The freezing would take effect on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Central Time, but the office of Illinois GOV JB Pritzker reported that the State lost access to Medicaid earlier that morning.
The Medicaid payment portal page included a large announcement of banner stating that, due to 'executive orders with regard to possibly non -presenting subsidy payments … reviews of applicable programs and payments will lead to delays and/or rejections of payments'.
Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal government and under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Human Services.
The Department spreads a percentage of financing based on a calculation of the needs of the state, while the State governments pay the rest.
The memo that was sent to government agencies on Monday stated that her orders should not be 'interpreted' to sign up for social security and Medicare programs for seniors and said that the hold does not contain help that is directly offered to private individuals. “
But the affected programs do include 'financial assistance for foreign help, non -governmental organizations, dei, wake gender ideology and the Green New Deal'.
The order sent shock waves via Washington and there were quickly questions about whether it would apply to Medicaid financing.
This financing is not provided directly to private individuals, but rather to care providers, such as doctors, hospitals or pharmacies, for the services they offer to eligible participants.
Before she lost access to the Medicaid payment portal, said the Comproller Susana Mendoza of the State that her office had already processed all the bills it had and had received his contribution from the federal government before the freezing went into place.
“However, I am very worried about how long this 'freezing' can last,” she said.
“It is reckless for President Trump to take this action with essentially no guidance or explanation about which federal funds are included, so that states leave the documents behind and find out how they can best protect and provide services to their residents.”
A state director of the White House told the Washington Post that Medicaid was never intended to be hit and that the administration was aware that more than 20 states had no access to federal funds through the system.
The administration has still not confirmed that Medicaid is safe for the freezing.
Connecticut Sen Chris Murphy said that the medicaid payment portal of his state is 'switched off'
Oregon Sen Ron Wyden said that all 50 states have reported that they are locked up from Medicaid paying sports, which means that reimbursements are retained to care providers who take care of Americans with a low income
When reporters from the White House Press briefing today asked, Mrs. Leavitt: “I come back to that.”
The legality of limiting the money flow to states is dubious.
Senior House and Senate Committees for Credit members said that the efforts of the Trump government to undermine the power power of the congress, to threaten our national security and refuse resources for states, places, American families and companies. '
The congress assigns financing for Medicaid as part of the annual federal budget. The Constitution provides exclusive authority to control the federal expenses to the congress through the credit process.
Medicaid is authorized under the Social Security Act, and any changes in their financing – such as pausing or withholding payments – would require legislative action or a legal administrative process.
The Funding Freeze throws a laundry list of other programs that promote food safety, fight crime, offer university support, produce medical research and be questioned by natural disasters.
Several states have had difficulty getting funds and reimbursements for toddlers in the Head Start program of the federal government.
Local housing organizations that meet people and families with a low income also aim in panic about the necessary financing to pay rents on 1 February.
The National Council of Non -Profit organizations and the American Public Health Association have submitted a lawsuit against the Office of Management and Budget, which sent the memo, looking for a temporarily limiting order to 'maintain the status quo until the court has the opportunity Has to better consider the illegality of the actions of OMB. '
